FACT CHECK: Is Edo INEC Returning Officer An APC Card-Carrying Member

As residents of Edo State trooped out to vote for their preferred candidate to take over from Governor Godwin Obaseki, fear has emerged as to whether the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) National Commissioner in charge of the state, Professor Rhoda Gumus, is a card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress.

Professor Gumus was appointed as INEC National Commissioner in charge of South-South by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022.

However, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, alongside Civil Society Organisations, frowned against Gumu’s appointment, noting that she was a card-carrying member of the APC.

The PDP, after Gumu’s appointment was confirmed by the Senate in 2022, described the move ” as a “coup” against democracy and an open invitation to “serious political crisis that can derail our hard-earned democracy and lead to breakdown of law and order if not immediately reversed.”

National Publicity Secretary of the party, Debo Ologunagba, in a statement titled ‘Confirmation of APC’s Rhoda Gumus As INEC Commissioner, A “Coup” Against Democracy, said, “In confirming Prof Gumus, the APC-led Senate leadership has exposed itself as anti-people and completely insensitive to the aspiration of Nigerians for credible and transparent elections in 2023.

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“The action of the APC-led Senate is highly provocative and incendiary because it is in violation of Paragraph 14 (2)(a) of the 3rd Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), which provides that “a member of the Commission shall be non-partisan and a person of unquestionable integrity”.

“Such violent assault on the Constitution and our electoral process by the APC cannot be allowed to stand.

“The media space is awash with reports of Prof. Gumus as a member of the APC in Bayelsa State with APC Registration Form No: BAY/YEN/08/58315 and reportedly as number 27 in her APC Ward Register.”

But Professor Gumus, despite a picture of her membership card circulating online, denied being a member of the APC.

According to her, those peddling the rumour are mischief makers.

A law firm, Adams Fasingha & Co., on behalf of Prof. Gumus, also threatened to file a lawsuit against those making the allegations then.

Is Professor Rhoda Gumus A Card Carrying APC Member?

Osun Defender could not verify if Professor Gumus is a card-carrying member of the APC or not.

Members of other political parties participating in the ongoing Edo gubernatorial election, political analysts and residents of the state will be taking a keen interest in the activities of Professor Gumus throughout this election.